A grant funded by the IETF, in the amount of $35,000, was awarded to Holly Shill, MD, Director, Christopher Center for Parkinson Research, Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research, and to Charles H. Adler, Co-PI and Clinical Core Director of the Arizona Parkinson’s Disease Consortium (APDC) and Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Scottsdale, AZ for the second year of their work on the project “Essential Tremor Brain Bank at the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders”.

Shill and Adler will build on the research the IETF funded last year. They have already shown that there appears to be little risk connecting essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. This year they expect to find that those with ET have no greater risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment than anyone else. This would be a welcome finding for those affected by ET who are concerned about their ability to remain self-sufficient as they age and the condition progresses.

They also will compare the clinical findings of early onset ET and ET beginning after age 65. They expect to find no differences in these groups based on their preliminary studies. The team will also continue to examine the brain tissue of those with ET and other neurological disorders after death, searching for a greater understanding of how ET changes the features of the brain, and hopefully leading to more effective diagnostic tools.

Participation in this study is only open to those who reside in Maricopa County in Arizona. For more information about this research, please call 623.832.6511.